Super Nintendo
Released in 1992 by Namco
Grade: D+
If you like basic gameplay flaws with your retro charm, this game is for you!
Where it falls in the series
It’s on its own in the U.S., but it aligns with the first of five editions of the Family Stadium series in Japan.
Gripes
Look, I’m pretty hard on these old-school baseball video games. If you like RBI Baseball, you’ll probably like this, because it’s basically the same thing.
It’s got the same goofy pitching system, where you steer the ball in mid-air like a sorcerer. It’s got the same CHEAPEST MOVE IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY, the fastball down the middle that suddenly drops and bounces in the dirt as the batter flails helplessly.
In the field, it’s no picnic fielding batted balls with no AI assistance, and you need precise timing to throw as soon as your player has control of the ball, even though the simplistic graphics give you no visual cue when that is.
The pace from pitch to pitch is quick, but it could be a little quicker. There’s some cute music and cut scenes and generic stadiums, and it all seems familiar even though I didn’t play this game as a kid. It’s got an MLBPA license: player names and city names, but no team names or logos.
If you go nuts for slight variations of the same old primitive baseball gameplay, give it a try. Otherwise, I don’t recommend it.